Rue Cler, Eiffel Tower

We left Boston on Friday, June 6. We arrived at
Charles de Gaulle International Airport at
about 6 a.m. local time on Saturday. Our expected transfer wasn't waiting
for us at the airport, and it took us quite a while to get a hold of someone at
the office to take us to the
Hotel Château Frontenac near the
Arc de Triomphe. When we
arrived at the hotel, we discovered our room would not be ready for another
hour, so we had the continental breakfast for a mere 15€ per person. At
the time, the Euro was worth about $1.18. When we finally did check in, we
found that continental breakfast was included - great! The room was spacious and
overlooked a Gianni Versace store on the
corner. The hotel was only a few blocks from the Champ Elysee.

After a short nap, we took the Metro and
spent the afternoon in the
Rue Cler area.
This is near the Ecole Militare, the military school that Napoleon attended.
Rue Cler is similar to the Haymarket in Boston, with open-air vendors selling
fruits and vegetables, butcheries and cafes. We got a chance to visit a small
French supermarket.

From Rue Cler, we walked to the
Eiffel Tower (La Tour Eiffel). The lines were long, so we decided just
to sit and people watch. There were many people trying to sell souvenirs
and bottled water.

For dinner, we went to (Phillipe's place), a typical small 10 table restaurant.
Everyone there had the same tour book we had and they were all from the U.S. so we
didn't quite get the complete French feeling we were after just yet, but the food
was yummy. Carol had beef bourguignon that Jim gave the highest praise to
- it was as good as mom's!